


Hold On

by quiet_rebel



Category: From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-26
Updated: 2015-05-26
Packaged: 2018-04-01 08:19:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4012471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quiet_rebel/pseuds/quiet_rebel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set after season one. | Catching him was easy; it was keeping him upright that was the challenge.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hold On

**Author's Note:**

> It's always scary when you write something for a new fandom, so thanks to Taylah (Seth Gecko's #1 fan and proud dumpster hostess) for reading this over. 
> 
> "you take care of me, I take care of you"
> 
> Feedback is fuel.

Kate woke up alone in bed. She hadn't woken up alone in nearly eight months. Not since she and Seth ran into a nest of culebras and found a bloody Richie among them. Seth pleaded with his brother to come back. 

“We can fix this.” But Seth's words fell on deaf ears.

For a second time, he let Richie go.

And he fell right into Kate's arms. 

She got out of bed, slipping one of Seth's dress shirts over her thin nightgown. It was almost two in the morning. Her eyes adjusted to the dark hallway inside the condo she and Seth lived in. He was renting it under a fake name. After a year of trashy motels and lumpy beds, he finally completed a score that allowed them to find a nice place to stay. He wouldn't share the details with her, but the pay was enough to give them a roof over their heads, gas in the car, clothes on their backs, food on the table, and of course, weapons.

The entire condo was stocked with guns, wooden stakes, knives, and even a crossbow. As she reached for the pistol taped under the kitchen counter, the faint smell of cigarettes filled the air. It was coming from the open balcony door. She left the gun behind.

Seth stood on the patio with his naked back to her. His black boxers hung low on his waist. She was still fascinated with the spiraling tattoo on his right arm. In his left hand, he held a tequila bottle. A cigarette dangled from the other. He turned his head and took a drag. She followed the glow of the fiery cigarette butt. 

“What are you doing, Seth?” she asked when she stepped outside.

He didn't look at her; his gaze focused on the dark in front of him. She heard the crashing waves of the Pacific Ocean from a few blocks away. A salty breeze blew through them. 

“Found your stash.” He flicked the cigarette ashes over the balcony. “You know, these things can kill you.”

Kate crossed her arms. “So can tequila, if you drink enough of it.”

He chuckled and finally turned around. Even with just the moonlight, she could make out his dimples as he smiled. In just a year, Seth's appearance had changed so much. He let his hair grow out, curling down the nape of his neck. Dark scruff covered his jaw. His tired eyes only lit up when they were hunting culebras, although sometimes she liked to pretend they lit up around her too. 

Like right now.

Seth's gaze slid over her body. She wondered how he viewed her. Had her appearance changed as much as his since they took off together from the Titty Twister? Sure, her hair was longer, her body was fuller, but there was dirt and dried blood under her fingernails now despite the cross necklace she still wore. 

He took another drag from the cigarette before offering it to her. She hesitated, but he kept his hand extended. With an exasperated sigh, she took the cigarette from him and slipped it in between her lips. As she inhaled, Seth said, “That was your last one. You're quitting as of right now.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Bullshit.” 

“Watch your mouth, princess. You don't think I smell that shit on you. That cheap perfume and bubble gum ain't working.” He drank from the tequila bottle. “Besides, you're not gonna do any good out there when you're huffing and puffing thanks to those cancer sticks.”

“Right, but you can booze it up as much as you want. Sounds fair to me.” She took a drag and blew the smoke into his direction. 

His eyebrows lifted. “Oh, are we really going to do this?”

Kate tucked the cigarette between her lips and crossed her arms again. Fighting with Seth was nothing new. They fought about the dumbest things: putting the toilet seat down, screwing the toothpaste cap back on, turning off the lights when you left a room, picking the music inside the car. Sometimes it felt like Seth was her daddy and brother rolled up into one. Always bickering, always lecturing.

But as Seth advanced toward her, his half-naked body inches from her own, her racing heartbeat told her he wasn't like Daddy or Scott at all. Maybe that's why she chose to stay with him after all this time.

He plucked the cigarette from her mouth and put it out on the cement railing. Fine. If he was going to be an asshole, then she was going to be a bitch. She grabbed the tequila bottle from him and hurried back inside the condo.

“What the fuck, Kate?” Seth followed her into the kitchen. She turned on the light and poured the rest of the liquor down the sink. 

“You're quitting as of right now.” She threw his words back at him, and he caught each one. He cocked his head, drew in a deep breath, and ran a hand over his face.

“You're something,” he said.

“Yeah, I'm all you've got.”

Seth caught those words too.

He dropped his head back. “Oh, man.” He pinched the bridge of his nose as all the tension seemed to melt from him.

“What were you doing out there, Seth?” she asked again, this time softer.

He leaned back against the kitchen counter. “I had a dream.”

So, his dreams had returned. It was one of the reasons why they slept in separate beds for so long. He used to jerk awake, covered in sweat, shouting Richie's name. But since they started to sleep under the same covers, he slept like a baby next to her.

“It was about you,” he added.

She blinked in surprise.

His gaze swung from her face to the floor. “I couldn't save you. I wasn't fast enough. I was this close...” His right thumb and index finger created an inch. “This close...and it wasn't enough. You were gone, just like that.”

“Seth.” She whispered his name.

And he fell right into her arms.

Catching him was easy; it was keeping him upright that was the challenge.

She threaded his fingers through his hair, keeping her mouth close to his ear. “I'm right here. I'll always be right here.” He shuddered at her promise. Slowly, his arms wrapped around her frame, pulling her tight against him, like he needed to believe her.

“I'm sorry.” He mumbled the apology into her shoulder, then he lifted his head and cupped her face with his large hands. “Can you forgive me?”

Whether it was for yelling at her about the cigarettes or for not saving her in his dream, she didn't know. She didn't ask. She didn't care. Her answer was the same.

“I forgive you.”

Kate pressed her lips against his for a light kiss. He kept their foreheads connected. They stayed that way for a moment before she lowered her hand into his.

“Let's go to bed,” she said.

He nodded, and she led them to their room. She took off his dress shirt. From behind, he kissed her bare shoulder and followed her under the sheets. She curled against his side and he placed his chin on the top of her head. Her cheek rested on his warm chest. Soon, it was just the sound of their synchronized breathing in the room. She looked up at Seth's serene face and prayed his sleep would be dreamless this time. 

When Kate woke up the next morning, still tucked beside a sleeping Seth, she knew her prayer had been answered.

THE END


End file.
